# Fastthread 0.4 **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [November 23, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastthread-0-4/77064 "2006-11-23T21:47:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/MenTaLguY)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastthread-0-4/77064/1 "2006-11-23T21:47:58Z")
fastthread is a library which replaces the synchronization primitives defined in stdlib’s thread.rb (Mutex, ConditionVariable, Queue, and SizedQueue) with optimized versions which: ``` * are much faster (in the non-contention case, speed comparable to direct use of Thread.critical or Thread.exclusive) * don’t leak memory (the stdlib implementation of Mutex manages to trigger worst-case behavior of a memory leak in Array) ``` To use it, simply require ‘fastthread’ before you require ‘thread’. Provided you don’t muck with thread.rb’s internals, your code should work with no additional modification. 0.4 is primarily a robustness/bugfix release. There is both a gem and a tarball available: ``` * ``` [http://moonbase.rydia.net/software/optimized-locking/fastthread-0.4.gem](http://moonbase.rydia.net/software/optimized-locking/fastthread-0.4.gem) \* [http://moonbase.rydia.net/software/optimized-locking/fastthread-0.4.tgz](http://moonbase.rydia.net/software/optimized-locking/fastthread-0.4.tgz) -mental ---
**Author:** ![MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/MenTaLguY)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastthread-0-4/77064/2 "2006-11-23T21:55:59Z")
On 23/11/06, MenTaLguY [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > To use it, simply require ‘fastthread’ before you require ‘thread’. Any chance this will be incorporated into the core libs? Farrel ---
**Author:** ![MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/MenTaLguY)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastthread-0-4/77064/3 "2006-11-24T02:40:26Z")
Farrel L. wrote: > > [http://moonbase.rydia.net/software/optimized-locking/fastthread-0.4.tgz](http://moonbase.rydia.net/software/optimized-locking/fastthread-0.4.tgz) Which “core libs”? The standard C implementation, jRuby or the Microsoft CLR version? IIRC the jRuby team is going to or already is using the JVM native threading model, and I have no idea what the Microsoft implementors are doing, but I’m assuming they are building on the CLR native threading model. And Ruby 1.9.x - 2.0 is supposedly going to use native threads – which presumably means at least Windows, Linux, MacOS and Solaris. That pretty much leaves the 1.8.x C implementation. – M. Edward (Ed) Borasky, FBG, AB, PTA, PGS, MS, MNLP, NST, ACMC(P) [http://borasky-research.blogspot.com/](http://borasky-research.blogspot.com/) If God had meant for carrots to be eaten cooked, He would have given rabbits fire. ---
**Author:** ![MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/MenTaLguY)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 7:57am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastthread-0-4/77064/4 "2006-11-24T07:57:01Z")
MenTaLguY wrote: > Frankly, the synchronization primitives in Ruby need a lot of help right > now on most or all of the implementations, and I’m trying to start the > ball rolling to get them fixed. > > -mental Good for you!! I’m betting jRuby gets cleaned up before the Microsoft one does. 🙂 – M. Edward (Ed) Borasky, FBG, AB, PTA, PGS, MS, MNLP, NST, ACMC(P) [http://borasky-research.blogspot.com/](http://borasky-research.blogspot.com/) If God had meant for carrots to be eaten cooked, He would have given rabbits fire. ---
**Author:** ![MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MenTaLguY](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/MenTaLguY)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 5:30am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/fastthread-0-4/77064/5 "2006-11-24T05:30:48Z")
On Fri, 2006-11-24 at 10:39 +0900, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote: > Which “core libs”? The standard C implementation, jRuby or the Microsoft > CLR version? IIRC the jRuby team is going to or already is using the JVM > native threading model, and I have no idea what the Microsoft > implementors are doing, but I’m assuming they are building on the CLR > native threading model. And Ruby 1.9.x - 2.0 is supposedly going to use > native threads – which presumably means at least Windows, Linux, MacOS > and Solaris. That pretty much leaves the 1.8.x C implementation. That’s about the shape of it. Once fastthread’s seen some decent use in production, I’ll turn it into a patch and submit it for hopeful inclusion in the 1.8.x stdlib. I hope that the implementation of the thread.rb primitives on the other Ruby implementations will be taken care of eventually. However, JRuby uses the thread.rb from 1.8.x right now, which is kind of sad since Thread.critical doesn’t really work properly on JRuby. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same were true of the other implementations. Last I looked, 1.9 was also more or less using a version of 1.8.x’s thread.rb. Frankly, the synchronization primitives in Ruby need a lot of help right now on most or all of the implementations, and I’m trying to start the ball rolling to get them fixed. -mental